Page 91 of Wild Scottish Beauty

I gasped.

Sure enough, nestled among the vines was a heart with a thistle in the middle of it, much like the locket that Lia had worn. I held the scissors to my chest, closing my eyes to settle myself, and that’s how Ramsay found me.

“Don’t do it. I quite like having you around.”

Grinning, I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me from the other side of the table.

“I passed another challenge.”

“Did you? That’s grand, isn’t it? When were you off accomplishing side quests?”

“Ah, well, it’s a private matter. Do you mind if I let her tell you as it’s not my story to share?”

“Who is she?”

“Lia.”

“That’s fair. I suppose you’d have to be careful with what you know, now that you can get a behind-the-curtain view to people’s lives. But she and Munroe are okay?”

“They are. And, yes, it feels kind of like I need to have a confidentiality clause.” I reached out and squeezed Ramsay’s hand, grateful for his understanding, and pulled him closer. “Look at my scissors.”

I showed him where the new design had shown up in the handle, and appreciated how he took the time to carefully listen and appreciate the gift that I’d been given.Ramsay didn’t try to steamroll me or tell me what was best for me to do, nor was he a pushover.

He’d truly been proud of me for being a part of the Order of Caledonia and was fascinated by how deeply the magickal roots ran in Loren Brae. As was I. He’d asked me more about my mom and my gran and brought up the question of whether one of them had maybe had magick as well.

Despite my lack of knowledge, instead of feeling threatened or trying to tell me what to do with my gift, he asked intelligent questions and listened when I answered. I was beginning to think we would make a really good team.

“Also, I have a fun project for us.”

“Does it involve your mesh bra that I love?” Ramsay leaned against the table.

“It could,” I said, my brain immediately leaving the work train and hopping on the sex train.

He laughed and gestured for me to go on.

That was something I’d noticed. Ramsay laughed more now. He wasn’t as uptight, and he’d let me start making changes to the shop, allowing more clients in. I was starting to feel like I was finally finding my footing here. Our first round of designs were almost finished to show Sophie, but I wanted to add in one more extra touch.

“Let’s go sit by the fire.”

It had become my favorite part of the day, cozying in by the fire, tossing design ideas back and forth, and I looked forward to this time with him. Ramsay had warned me the fire wouldn’t be lit in the summer, but maybe I’d be able to convince him to light a candle to at least set the cozy mood that I so craved.

“Okay, sooooo, I know we’re almost done with the designs, at least for presentation purposes, but since we haven’t actually settled on our top tartan patterns, I thought I’d introduce an idea.”

“Unicorns?” Ramsay raised an eyebrow at me, and I laughed. He leaned back in the chair, stretching his legs out in front of him, and steepled his fingers as he watched me with an intensity that had my thoughts scattering. Bringing it back, I tapped the screen of my iPad and brought up a website.

“Did you know that you can design and trademark your very own tartan pattern?” I asked, looking at him with excitement.

His lips twitched.

“Right. Duh. Of course you know that. You’re a kiltmaker. And Scottish. This is your job. So, yeah, well, I thought…could we make one for MacAlpine Castle? Together.”

“Hmmm.” Ramsay brought his fingers under his chin, his eyes distant as he considered it. “The castle has a family tartan.”

“Right, it does. But it’s connected to the family name, right? Not to the MacAlpine name?”

“Correct.”

“Look at this website. You can bring up all the tartan patterns, riff on them, or start from scratch with your own. You can even submit the pattern for commercial use after. Want to give it a go? Just for fun? See if we land on anything good?”

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